Writing the Community Poem
Nancy Austin & Kathleen Serley
In the folk tale Stone Soup, community members are asked to each contribute a small amount of ingredients to a kettle of water to make a meal. Various meats, a bevy of succulent vegetables, broth, savory and sweet herbs, grains, butter, salt and pepper are donated and the cook combines these into a hearty, locally sourced stew. So it is for a community poem, a collaborative way to write poetry involving many writers’ contributions on a specific topic or goal. Individual voices are synthesized into one cohesive work of art.
Composing a community poem takes us out of our comfort zone of writing as a solitary practice into an alliance. Multiple points of view that could stand on their own now complement one another. Community poems bring people together, foster a sense of community, help preserve and define cultures, connect the dots and immortalize collective experiences into written word.
Our process began with offering the Mid-Central and Northwest regions a workshop called Writing the Community Poem, conducted by Kimberly Blaeser. She educated us on the topic and provided a number of examples. We then chose a theme that embodied characteristics of each region and divided it into several subcategories to encourage depth of subject. Our submission guidelines asked each poet to choose one subcategory and compose 4-6 lines on this topic.
Initially we thought of a community poem as a way to bring our poets together. We hoped to engage poets on the periphery. We wanted to nurture our regional identity. As the project developed we realized that the multiple voices of a community poem strengthen the message. Many voices speaking as one lent a credibility, even an authority to the poetic expression and we saw how important it was to preserve the unique qualities of those voices.
When we first started to put our lines together into our regional poems, we tried to speak with one voice. We worked to standardize the line lengths and stanzas. We tried to shape the words to one rhythm. But we were disappointed in this uniformity. We felt we had lost our poems’ identity. So we abandoned the uniform stanza, the adopted rhythm and began dropping lines as they had come to us wherever they seemed to “sound good” or “look good.” We played with the formatting to use some lines as refrains. We pulled out single words and scattered them for emphasis, and at times if we thought some lines didn’t really fit, we included them anyway because they added interest to the poem. Along the way as the writers, we took on a playfulness which helped us grow as poets, ourselves.
Because the process was new to us, our poets were serious players. It would be fun to repeat the process and see how much more playful our poets would be with their creative expression, in the same way we learned to be with the lines they sent us.
Just as we were happily surprised by the benefits of writing the community poem, we also sought to meet the challenges of this project. The challenge we gave the most attention to was how to respect the contribution of each participant. When we sent out the prompt we included the disclaimer that we might not use every submission or we might use parts of the submission even just a word or phrase. Nonetheless we worked hard to give our poets their due.
In the final analysis, however, the integrity of the end product was more important than any one part. Sometimes individual submissions repeated themselves and we had to choose one. In other instances, the lines submitted didn’t fit with the flow of the poem or didn’t specifically relate to the subject. In those cases we chose poem over participant and hoped for understanding. In every instance, however, we were grateful for the lines sent to us and appreciated all poets’ contributions.
As this project draws to an end we find that the benefits of strengthening connections and stronger messaging outweigh challenges inherent to the process, and we hope this discussion of our experience will encourage other poets to write community poems.
Nancy Austin, VP Northwest
Hazelhurst
Kathleen Serley, VP Mid-Central
Wausau
Community Poems
Seeds
Paper thin shards a dot on a pinhead
morph into trees flowers soybeans and corn
every seed a renewal a hope a blessing
every seed a gift
Wild apple trees grew near my immigrant grandparents’ farm
they plucked the apples, made applesauce and pies,
then planted the seeds to feed future generations
cradling every seed close to the heart
one seed said grow
one seed said be
one seed said you
one seed said we
some grow some don't
some are some aren't
My mother saved seeds from her flower garden anticipating next year’s vivid display
until the year her garden filled with pale yellow blossoms on stunted stems
Hybrids, my dad scoffed, can’t save those seeds I felt sad for those spindly plants
barely lifted above the ground They were doing their best, yet nobody wanted them
Gratitude flower seeds travel far and wide garden of life
Silent snuggly soil steady spring showers sun’s warming rays,
humus and summer sun encourage the seed to grow
resilient beside undue rainfall sweltering drought
sprouting volunteer tomato plants along railroad tracks
Last year’s seeds anticipate— Last year’s seeds, saved—
scattered in the garden soil, nourish us next year
a cache of volunteer tomato plants a continuum of DNA
Propagating
Fireflies, If only my poppy
those luminescent seeds, would loft
drift above my garden its dark progeny
seeking the perfect place and spread the way
to root. they do.
In a fallow field I came upon an heirloom gem
left from antebellum days, a variety of corn
I recognized as having been celebrated
for its buttery texture and floral fragrance,
seeds long lost to farmers, but now feral
in ditches and empty lots spotted with violets.
Feral seeds in ditches Poppies in flower gardens Every seed a gift
The following poets contributed to “Seeds:”
Linda Aschbrenner, Carol Bezin, Vlasta Karol Blaha, Betsy O. Borchardt, Bruce Dethlefsen, Jeffrey Johannes, Joan Wiese Johannes, Lucy Rose Johns, Kris Rued-Clark, D.D. Schroeder, Kathleen Serley, Susan Schwartz Twiggs, Patricia Williams
Northwoods Waterways
In the way water is life always the same always different
Rainwater percolates peatlands, bogs, sedge meadows,
wild wetlands of beaver, muskrat, mink, rare treasures:
jutta arctic butterflies, alpine cotton grass, dragon’s mouth orchids.
Scent almost like wet wool hovers over the bog’s
incessant chatter, a diversity of riverine migrations.
A heron fishes undisturbed in mineral-rich stream.
Swan wings lift from liquid, drip into what flew before.
River, river, slice our hearts like paddles cutting deep
Mesmerizing ripples reflect billowy clouds and brilliant blue heavens
in the flowing Namekagon River. Meandering around a bend
gurgling water whispers a welcome merging with our inner currents,
memories old as fossils float these Northwest waterways.
A deep roar ahead clutches the heart; nothing yet seen of Flambeau’s
Cedar Rapids but a line of scallops atop first highest ledge,
our golden leaf of canoe into same lucky scallop dip since childhood.
We trust, do not fight back the steep chute we hang above.
We fly, float on sizzling curve of bubbles into pool below.
We gather hope from bends in the river and such an arc of cobalt sky.
In the way water is life always the same always different
The lakes sustain our souls
The fog shrouds the lake in silence, erases the world.
Carved from masses of slow-moving ice thousands
of years ago, beneath her placid surfaces lie secrets far below.
The lake is a woman unwashed vessels enter, spread unwanted seed,
attach to walls in uterine waters, create clay graveyard.
Once wild rice grew here but wakes from boats disrupted tender roots.
How to convince all to be stewards, a question as intangible as fog
on the northern lowlands, or a net with no catch—
half of Wisconsin wetlands, mostly south, already lost.
We gather resolve to steward a reverie of lakes,
a humble reverence for rivers.
River, river, slice our hearts like paddles cutting deep
Flags of stubborn leaves and algae hover, lilting canvasses of enchanted
sprinkled quartz, crushed illuminated snail. There is a long-sleeve pearl
blouse submerged in copper water, half hidden in bold stone, waving rapidly
to the outstretched surface in the shadow of the swinging bridge.
A slow sloping garden of leaves, soil, sticks dissolve in tannin to make
a root beer float. Shushing reams of foam discontinue under worn edges,
or drop in dangled pauses before they plunge and bob, then consent to deposit
their cache onto welcoming banks. Water purls at edges of a wake.
In the way water is life always the same always different
It offers counsel to the rhythms of our days
In this land of thousands of lakes we seek relief in water,
wild, undisturbed Superior, cleanest of all great lakes,
the always changing gaze of our inland sea.
The inland soul that goes to sea beyond the influence of tide
exults in its Eternity, exults where earth and sky collide,
where waters rise a mountains’ rake and water stretches as a plain.
The inland soul for inlands’ sake sees in the stars the line to gain.
Loud dripping of last night’s This water stays on earth—lake
rain fills morning trees to cloud, warming to rain—
as lake mists swirl up to sky. immerses us again.
River, river, slice our hearts like paddles cutting deep
The following poets contributed to Northwoods Waterways:
Nancy Austin, Jan Bosman, Dale Chesley, Terry Andre Dukerschein, John Leighton, Tim Moder, Mary Louise Peters, Diana Randolph, Rebecca H. Swanson, Elizabeth Tornes, Kim Tregilgas, Lucy Tyrrell, Macy Washow
Contributors
“Seeds”
Linda Aschbrenner loves to read, write, and eat apples. She published 100 issues of the publication Free Verse and 18 chapbooks for poets with her press, Marsh River Editions.
Carol Bezin seeks to express her love of spirituality and nature with writing poetry.
Vlasta Karol Blaha (Colby) appreciates the inspiration from her poetry group. Her poems have appeared in Ariel Anthology, Avocet, Leaves of Peace Anthology, Moss Piglet, Trace, and Wisconsin Poets' Calendars.
Betsy O. Borchardt is a poet, author, artist, and musician. She derives happiness from being creative. Husband, Andy has been by her side since 1980. She loves Wisconsin.
Bruce Dethlefsen, Wisconsin Poet Laureate (2011-2012) lives in Westfield.
Jeffrey Johannes has won the Hal Prize from Peninsula Pulse and won and placed in WFOP Triad contests. His chapbook, Coffee Quiet, was published in 2023 by Kelsay Books.
Joan Wiese Johannes’s new poetry collection is Lamenting My Failure to Learn How to Tap Dance from Water’s Edge Press. A Lifetime WFOP member, she co-edited the 2012 Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar.
Lucy Rose Johns, Nekoosa, a lifetime member of WFOP, enjoys sharing poetry, hers or anyone else’s with whoever will listen.
Kris Rued-Clark lives and writes from a hilltop home in the exact center of the state. She and her husband have two very spoiled cats who have trained them well.
D.D. Schroeder (Dan) lives in central Wisconsin and is an emerging poet in an old soul (and body). He and his family tend a 5-acre nature preserve and gardens.
Kathleen Serley is WFOP Mid-Central VP. Her first book of poetry, Statements Made in Passing was published by Water’s Edge Press 2022.
Susan Schwartz Twiggs, Marshfield, is inspired by Wisconsin forest views in summer and the Sonoran Desert in winter. She thanks her Cabin Fever critiquers for their support throughout the year.
Patricia Williams has a chapbook, two collections, (Midwest Medley “Outstanding Achievement in Poetry,” Wisconsin Library Association, and Rejection to Acceptance). She received Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize nominations.
“Northwoods Waterways”
Nancy Austin has been published in various journals and has several poetry collections, the last titled Something Novel Came in Spring (Water’s Edge Press, 2021). Find her at nancyaustinauthor.com.
Jan Bosman lives in Woodstock, IL. She is a member of the PaperBirch Poets of northern Wisconsin. She regularly writes a poetry column for local newspapers during National Poetry Month.
Dale Chesley is a retired pastor living the rhythms of his days in Ashland, Wisconsin.
Terry Andre Dukerschein (Glen Flora) a former biologist on the Mississippi River, La Crosse, now lives on Deertail Creek in Rusk County. She has written and published poetry since her teens.
John Leighton is a retired attorney who started writing poetry in 1995. His book, Paradise View, Collected Poems, won a few awards including the Wisconsin Writer's Association Jade Ring. He’s been published numerous times, but he does not keep a portfolio and cannot remember which poems were published or where. He writes mostly for his own amusement.
Tim Moder's poems have appeared in Denver Quarterly, Cutthroat, Freshwater Review, One Art, and others. His chapbooks include All True Heavens (Alien Buddha) and American Parade Routes (Seven Kitchens).
Mary Louise Peters calls Wisconsin home, lives in Madison, and has been published in WFOP calendars, Reflections from the Center, Stitching Earth to Sky, (Water’s Edge Press, 2019), and other anthologies.
Diana Randolph, Drummond, is a landscape painter and writer who works in her home studio surrounded by Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. She's the author of a chapbook and a full-length book "Beacons of the Earth & Sky, Poetry and Paintings inspired by the Natural World." Please visit www.dianarandolph.com.
Rebecca H. Swanson lives on a lake in Wisconsin's northwest woods where she writes across genres and serves as a volunteer to support the health of the lakes.
Kim Tregilgas is recently retired and is finally able to pick up writing again, Hurray!! She has a degree in Journalism with a career in television, marketing and research and currently resides in Bayfield Wisconsin.
Lucy Tyrrell explores the lakes and rivers of northern Wisconsin by canoe; the wonders of nature in woods, field, and water; and the flow of words spoken or on paper. She was Bayfield Poet Laureate in 2020–2021.
Macy Washow started writing poetry after retiring to the Northwoods. Although she writes mostly for enjoyment she has published in WFOP publications, Ariel Anthology, and in poetry/art collaboratives.